Sunday, October 26, 2008

When I was attempting to make an un-sweet birthday cake I ended up finding an amazing recipe for chocolate peanut butter bars. I've already sampled them a bit so I can attest to their wonderfulness. They still were pretty sweet.... but really.... whats up with hating sweets anyways?!

(On my favorite desert plates from William Sonoma with my cute little noritaki tea cup I picked up at the estate sale this morning in the background!)

If you're a fan of Chocolate and Peanut Butter (and who's not?!) you absolutely must try these!

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips, melted (6 oz.)

Directions:

Combine everything but the chocolate chips, and press in a greased 8x8" pan.

I added some crushed peanut butter oreos on top of the chocolate before chilling, I also cut back on the powder sugar a bit (trying to make it less sweet!). I must say this was the simplisest most delicious recipe I've made in a long time.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Today was very eventful! Ali and I have been talking about wanting to go to the Turlock flea market for awhile now but since it opens at the crack of dawn and I'm a sleepy head so it took a long time to get the oomph to go. So I crawled out of bed at 6:30 AM and drove to turlock. I saw it was on East Ave (right by one of my favorite thrift stores) and that isn't the best area of Turlock, which is so sad because it's a beautiful neighborhood filled with old sweet homes. As soon as we got going and turned the corner we saw two women trying to push an enormous pick up truck so my mom stopped and asked if they needed any help and we got out and helped them push, then the woman across the street from us drives up and gets out too, when in moments we had that truck moved. Us girls in the "hood" are pretty darn strong! So after that little ordeal, I gave Ali a call, woke her up, and told her I'd be a couple minutes late because we'd been rescuing some neighbors! When we finally got to turlock, it was in just as scary a neighborhood as I had guessed. So I call Ali to tell her to wait to get out of her car until we can meet up with her, but instead I get her sister because she accidentally left her cell at home. I go in to a panic because the place is mobbed and I'm not seeing her cute little prius anywhere near. Finally my mom and I park down the street and hike it in when I see a familiar back in front of me...I called out "Ali!?!" and thank the Lord it was here... we were all freaking out! No one likes to be lost without cell phone in scary parts of Turlock.

We were pretty discouraged when we first walked in, I was listening to air musique (the french radio station) on XM on the drive there imaging it would be like the Paris flea market (ok well I knew it would be nothing like it but I was hoping!). Instead I should have been listening to the Spanish channel because at first it looked more like little Mexico, which was fun too! Just different than the antique shop owner I met in monterey told me it would be. She drives 3 hours at 4:00 in the morning just to come to this flea market so she gave me high hopes! Once we got past the stands of veggies, socks, and contact lenses I found the treasures! I found the coolest pendant and cabochons (which I've already made something out of!), and these super retro wall hangings (some of which I'm spraying white and putting up for sale on Bungalow and the rest are going on Appleschloss!). My mom found this amazing Danish (which is our heritage) table cloth, it's been well loved but it'll be beautiful when my parents remodel the kitchen. It's white with blue embroidered seagulls on it, perfect for how the kitchen will be decorated!

After we scoured through the market (which I eventually began to love) we headed over to this amazing retro diner Latif's for breakfast. It was like a trip back in time! So cute! Once we were satiated we wandered around downtown turlock looking for the bakery who's sign we could see out the window. Sadly they had gone out of business but on our hunt we found my new favorite store, Vintage Rose Interiors. I had a field day in there, it reminded me so much of Anthropologie. I bought a sweet little card, and these gorgeous recycled grocery bags for my grandma and aunt, of course I couldn't help but pick up one for myself too. They were just so unique, very feminine and my whole family loves beautiful eco friendly finds! So I think they will make the perfect Christmas present. It's a husband and wife who own the store. The husband and store mascot (a tiny little dog in a basket named Winston) were working there today and they couldn't have been more welcoming! Fresh coffee offered, beautiful free gift wrapping, I'll be back there often! That is just the kind of store I dream of opening. Everything in there is on my Christmas list now!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Isn't this ring gorgeous??? I was browsing through etsy today and now I want the "connected" heart ring so bad! Everything in soulyyours's shop is amazing! Go check it out! http://www.soulyyours.etsy.com

So I've decided to combine blogs! This will be my one and only spot to write now, no more myspace blogging (unless I'm feeling nostalgic).

Today was just lovely. Baking organic scones for breakfast and then having them with my very favorite peach amaretto jam from stonewall kitchen always insures a good day ahead! I wish we had a whole foods closer by. Every time I'm near one I stock up on scone mix because it makes possibly the best scones on earth.

After breakfast I ventured out to Beverley's to stock up on crafty supplies with my mommy while I had my coupons! I've had my eye on the Amy Butler book of baby patterns for awhile now but after glancing through it more thoroughly today I realized I should start a bit slower on my line of baby clothes! My sewing isn't quite to that level yet. I ended up buying the sweetest pattern and the happiest cream and grass green fabric to create with! I also picked up some more embroidery supplies so I can finish some of my projects I've been working on. I can't wait to make the flower sack towels I bought today, they were on such a great sale... I couldn't resist buying them!

When I finally tore myself away from crafting heaven we headed over to the office to see our new backdrops that my dad bought my mom for her birthday! It changed up the look of the office but I think they'll be a lot of fun! I played with them a little bit today and posed with the chandelier I bought from urban outfitters awhile back (thought it would be cute hung in there... but it ended up finding it's home propped up against a huge frame).

Well I better get to sleep... tomorrow is going to be crammed full of studying for my gender studies class. I absolutely love it, but it sneaks up on me every week! I'm hoping tomorrow night I can cook up something from my new cookbook I picked up at my schools brand new book store (it's so beautiful). Everything in it looks amazing! I especially want to try the Acorn Squash and Black Bean Empanadas!

Friday, October 3, 2008

These are possibly my favorite thing I've ever made (haha ok so maybe I say that about everything, but really... these are amazing!!!). Made from 1940's vintage gloves and ebelished with a delicate pale pink chiffon flower and two tiny green chiffon leaves on the wrist of the right glove. I'm in love!